As for the question of "Is there other intelligent life in the galaxy?" I'm certainly hoping for "yes." It would be so much more interesting, seeing as how Terran life is automatically biased to assume things have to work like they do on Earth. If we find another civilization out there, we could both make huge leaps in scientific understanding by studying each other.

Or we could make huge scientific leaps the more rational way....figuring out how to kill them all and take their stuff.

Genetic Engineering is already possible to some extent. In near future we will see alot more of it, longer live expectancy, different strength increases through technology (stronger, more intteligent) and so forth. All that will probably be possible in next 200 years, that's ofc if we will survive that long....

Fallout

Look at the povity, the wars, poor countries and so forth... I REALLY do Hope that nothing like in Fallout will happen but currently it seems more then likely in next 100 years... Power, Money... always the bad thing for humanity.

"AI completely dominates the planet now. Almost every aspect of world affairs is controlled by superintelligent entities formed of billions of inorganic minds working in unison. These "Artilects" work at speeds and scales that would be incomprehensible to observers from the 21st century. Global issues that persisted for years in the past can now be resolved on timescales measured in hours, minutes or even less."

-

"The nanotechnology of recent decades has conferred powers to citizens that would be considered superhuman by 21st century standards. These upgraded "transhumans" could perform feats regarded as Godlike to denizens of earlier times."

-

"The first lakes and seas are beginning to form on Mars.

In the lowest altitude regions, a variety of plant life has been introduced. The air pressure and temperature is even high enough for certain arthropods and insects to survive."

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"Continued environmental destruction, rapid growth of transhumanism, and major developments in space travel all mark the 22nd century.

Practically all the world's energy comes from either fusion or renewable sources now. Global warming shows no signs of abating however, due to positive feedback loops that were triggered in previous decades."

-http://www.futuretimeline.net

PS:

Nothing can be taken for 100% certainty since anything can change between now and near future.

---------- Post added 2011-03-31 at 09:40 PM ----------

Originally Posted by coredumperror

As for the question of "Is there other intelligent life in the galaxy?" I'm certainly hoping for "yes." It would be so much more interesting, seeing as how Terran life is automatically biased to assume things have to work like they do on Earth. If we find another civilization out there, we could both make huge leaps in scientific understanding by studying each other.

Another intelligent life forms in our galaxy? Unlikely but Possible. Chances of finding some sort of "living" organism in our galaxy ALOT more likely.

I'd say it's gonna be Deus Ex future. Large copropations owning everyone and everything, and cyborg tech used to make said corporations' enforcers even better, and wars of industrial espionage, while an average citizen is obedient cattle that is even born already with debts.

"A NAME IS A CLOAK OF LETTERS THROWN UPON A MAN. IT MEANS NOTHING." - Transcendent One, Planescape: Torment.

I can't think of any sci-fi that has it right off the top of my head (though i'm sure theres some out there).

I'm mainly concerned with the way most sci-fi portrays alien life.

-There isn't going to be an inhabited planet in every system you travel to.
-Alien life wouldn't look anything like we do (it would have evolved on a completely different planet under completely different circumstances. The fact that we look the way we do is nothing more than random chance. Humans share about 50% of the same DNA as bananas, imagine what an alien with 100% different DNA would look like. Star Trek was the worst with this one, but even bipedal races such as the Salarians or Krogan of Mass Effect are pushing it)
-They wouldn't speak english (if they "speak" at all), i know this is necessary for story telling but even a universal translator is next to impossible.
-They wouldn't even think the way we do. Our thoughts and actions are heavily influenced by drives that our species evolved over thousands of years.